Yale Bulletin and Calendar

December 6, 2002|Volume 31, Number 13

Whiffenpoofs will serenade
the staff of 'The West Wing'

To date, the Whiffenpoofs, Yale's all-male a cappella singing group, have presented concerts in the White House for four U.S. presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and ... Josiah Bartlett?

Bartlett is the fictional commander-in-chief in the Emmy Award-winning NBC series "The West Wing." The Whiffs (as they're commonly known) serenade the pseudo-president in an episode airing this week.

Vikram Swamy, the Whiffs' business manager, said that series' creator and producer Aaron Sorkin called him on Nov. 20 to ask if the group could come out to California to film the segment, which is set to air on Wednesday, Dec. 11, as part of the series' Christmas show. The group flew out the following weekend to Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, where the series is filmed.

Although Swamy can't reveal the show's plot, he says the Whiffs will make more than a cameo appearance in a concert set in the White House. President Bartlett (played by actor Martin Sheen) will join them and listen to the concert. Swamy says the performance will be "more substantial" than a few seconds of background footage and, in fact, the group may perform more than one song on film.

The Whiffs have been in the spotlight ecently. Swamy and fellow Whiff Courtney Williams appeared in a segment in the Nov. 7 episode of "The Caroline Rhea Show," filmed on Old Campus and in Wooster Street pizza parlors. The Nov. 19 episode of "Gilmore Girls," featuring actor Edward Hermann as grandfather Richard Gilmore, has him bragging about being a Yale alumnus and a former member of the Whiffs. Swamy says the group will also appear on the Dec. 8 edition of "The Today Show," which is broadcast live from Rockefeller Center in New York.

Every year, 14 senior Yale men are selected to be the Whiffenpoofs, the world's oldest collegiate a cappella group. Founded in 1909, the Whiffs began as a senior quartet that met for weekly concerts at Mory's Temple Bar, the noted Yale tavern. Today, the group travels around the world performing over 150 concerts every year.

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Whiffenpoofs will serenade the staff of 'The West Wing'

Grant supports drug research-training project in Thailand

Scientists aim to create drug with impact of low-cal diet

Master watercolor artists are featured in exhibition

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Campus Notes